Rights
The 2022 constitution replaced the 2014 text with a presidential system
The 2014 constitution, product of the post-revolution constituent assembly, was replaced in 2022 by referendum with a text concentrating power in the presidency and weakening the legislature.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — Unitary republic. The Constitutional Court provided for in the 2014 text was never constituted, and the 2022 constitution restructures review.
Governing law
- Constitution of Tunisia 2022
- Constitution of Tunisia 2014superseded
- Decree-Law 2022-11 on the referendum
In practice
The most important practical fact about Tunisian constitutional law is institutional rather than textual: the Constitutional Court mandated by the 2014 constitution was never established because parliament could not agree appointments, so there was no body to adjudicate the constitutionality of the 2021 emergency measures or the 2022 process. The 2022 constitution, approved on a low turnout, makes the President head of the executive with ministers responsible to him, reduces the Assembly's censure powers, and adds a second chamber of regions and districts. Reference material written between 2014 and 2021 describes a parliamentary system that no longer operates, which is the single most common error in current descriptions of Tunisia. The independence of the judiciary was also restructured after the 2022 dissolution of the Supreme Judicial Council.